Hostage Effect
by Jaix
Summary: Reno's life is thrown into chaos as he ends up a hostage for the Tsviets during a mission gone wrong. Setting off a trigger of unlucky events for the red-headed Turk and the return of Sephiroth. Eventual Sephiroth x Reno, rape Weiss x Reno
1. Chapter 1 How it all began

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Final Fantasy Seven, any of these characters or the world they're all prancing around in.

**Pairings:** Eventual Sephiroth x Reno, mild Weiss x Reno and who knows what other pairings I'll throw in later. I'm open for suggestions.

Hello and welcome to my very first written fiction ever. At least the very first one with a finished chapter, this fic was inspired by my friend Havox who you can find here on this site somewhere. The story is set a few days before Dirge of Cerebus when Weiss still had his brain to himself. Comments are loved even if it's a simple prod to get me to write the next chapter, creative critique is appreciated, flames will be ignored and deleted. Not all pairings in this will be yaoi [GuyxGuy] but the main pairing is, so that's the most you will hear about. This is just a proulouge so it's going to be short, I promise to work harder on the first chapter.

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The room was dark, only dimly lit with a cheap light bulb hanging over the center of the room. A dull electric buzz hummed through the air as the cold seeped up from the hard concrete floor; however it was the stench of old blood and unwashed bodies that awoke the red headed Turk laying sprawled out on the ground. "Guh… awwh fuck!" Slowly moving shaking arms underneath his hurting body Reno pushed himself upright, cringing as a sharp pain shot up from his side and chest and the movement. Bruised ribs? A hand darted beneath his mussed dress shirt while he leant against the hard wall remaining upright with his other limbs for support.

He carefully drew his hand along the ribcage searching for the damaged appendage and shit if he hadn't found it. Reno froze as he grazed over his lower right side inwardly reeling as the pain shot through his body. He clenched his teeth and slowly moved around so that he could slump back against the wall rather then lean against it. Sure it still hurt but it was much better then the leaning or even lying on the ground.

At least the rest of him didn't feel all too battered, just minor scraps… and a small concussion. Now how had he gotten that again? For that matter how had he ended up in a cell, and underground one to boot? Oh yeah that's right... Rufus.

_Flashback_

"What do you mean sweep the old Shinra building? That thing's in ruin's yo. " A very disgruntled Reno slammed his hands down flat on Rufus's desk a frown marring his features. "Because Reno as I have said it's fully possible that anyone could go rummaging through the ruin's themselves, and if they find any remaining weapons or anything it could be used against us or others with the blame ultimately falling back on Shinra. This could bring up unnecessary problems which is something I will _not_ allow." Rufus himself was leaning forward from his chair both elbows brought up onto the edge of the desk and his fingers steeped together as he kept a cool gaze on the stubborn Turk.

"Why me yo? Can't Elena do it?" An eyebrow raised as Rufus switched to leaning forward more the tone of his voice dropping into a zone that promised trouble if Reno persisted. "Are you complaining Turk? I gave you a job, now unless you have a very valid reason not to take the mission then I want you out there now."

The frown remained; Reno sunk back further into his chair hating the cold bastard that Rufus had turned into shortly after being cured of the geo-stigma. Sure he had a lot of pressure on him with rebuilding Shinra literally from ruins but one would think that he would at least loosen up around the Turks that stuck by his side. "Then what about Rude yo? Why just me?" "If you'd recall Reno you both have been rather lax in turning in reports. Since Rude's handwriting is more eligible then yours, he will spend the day filling out those while you spend it checking over Shinra's old building. Now get to it."

"Tch" Reno pushed himself up and out of the chair giving up on the argument since he evidently wasn't going to win this one. "Fine." He turned then stomped out ignoring the looks from his co-workers outside the room and missing the sly smile that slowly spread over his superior's features.

Half an hour later he was diligently creeping through the skeletal remains of Midgar's upper plate, skirting around the creatures that now haunted the place. He couldn't help but feel a chill crawl down his spine raising the hairs on the back of his neck. It was creepy as fuck to walk through a ghost city that was once so full of life. Finally he stepped or rather tumbled into the building- he hadn't seen the fallen debris that he'd tripped over, right into the remains of another wall.

"Damn rocks." Reno growled as he rolled over, climbing up to his feet with a small stumble as he dusted off his standard Turk suit. At least the weather wasn't shitty, swinging his Electro-mag rod over a shoulder the Turk proceeded to walk along what he guess to be an old hallway. Maybe there would be stair's nearby, there's no way anything would last being on the surface with it exposed to the elements. At least nothing that wasn't already gone picked up by scavengers and carried away if not rotted.

A few feet away he spotted a way down through a hole on the floor, it would also provide as a way back with the junk cluttered below it. Lowering himself down he nimbly dropped to the floor unaware of the glowing yellow eyes that flickered over in his direction. "Don't know why Rufus is being such an ass yo…" Reno was of course talking to himself, sweeping around the darkened room with his eyes as he let them adjust. Times like these some small part of him wished that Turk's received mako injects, he disliked waiting for his eyes adjust.

Just as he was going to venture a cautious step forward a large fist shaped force sent him flying through the air and straight through one of the flimsy walls. "Shit! What the hell yo!" The cynical Turk scrambled to his feet ignoring the sharp pain and the floor as it dipped beneath him. Darkness and silence wait floor dipping beneath him? Reno squinted down, eyes widened- _oh shi_

The last thing he could really recall was the fall as the floor gave away then the next then a confusing whirl of voices and strange faces before he had blacked out.

_End Flashback._

Reno jolted back to awareness as a loud bang echoed through the small room, the cell's door had been slammed open. A man strode in, and the first things that caught Reno's attention was that his upper torso was bare of and scrap of clothing. Pale skin gave a soft illuminating glow from the cell's light, well built with defined muscles, two katana's strapped to his back, silvery white hair grown a little past his shoulder in a haphazard manner, two startling bright turquoise eyes and a cold cruel smile in place. Fuck this had not be yet another Sephiroth clone bent on getting revenge for mother dearest. Where the hell did Shinra stuff them all anyway?

A semi-loud click echoed around as the door shut, the mystery man stepped forward and Reno realized that he did indeed have clothing although it only consisted of white pants streaked with blue down to his black boots and knee guards. He blinked dully noting that the boots had stopped in front of him. Slowly he looked up into the face of the smirking stranger about to give him a piece of his mind only to receive a swift and very painful kick to his right side clipping the injured ribs.

"Oomph!" Reno immediately hunched over with a grimace holding back a groan that threatened to escape. "Fuck! The hell was that for you silver haired freak!?" "So it can still speak, pity it's mouth is so filthy." The silver haired one crouched down, gripping Reno's chin and forcing him to look up into the stranger's eyes.

His thumbs rubbing over the twin red tattoos that sat beneath the Turks eyes. Reno's expression contorted into confusion then disgust as he felt another hand creeping over his left thigh. Oh hell no! No silver haired manic was going to get away touching him like that! He quickly fixed or well changed the situation by lobbing a wad of spit into the silver haired one's face. Which of course wasn't the wisest thing to do as the cold one's eyes flashed with suppressed rage.

Quicker then he could blink Reno received a harsh punch directly tot he damaged ribs an audible cracking sound, followed by a swift intake of breath then unbelievable pain. Gray filmed over his vision and Reno very nearly gave in to the compulsion to curl up in the fetal position and whimper. In fact the only thing that stopped him from doing so was the hand that suddenly gripped his arm and hauled him halfway up the wall. Now that really, really fucking hurt.

He only vaguely registered the face and deep voice as white spots danced across his vision. "Now listen here little Turk, you might have a use to me alive. But that doesn't necessarily mean I have to keep you completely healthy." The strangers eyes flashed again with some emotion Reno couldn't identify combined with an odd smile, the world swam before his eyes and the voice came from somewhere closer. "I suppose that also means I might let the others play with you as well."

Reno struggled to push back the pain letting his mind slowly digest the words that were spoken. Then mustered enough strength for the only appropriate response, giving him the finger. Cold laughter abruptly echoed across the cell as his arm was released and he crumpled to the floor with a half groan half whimper. He could only slowly make out the words as the world sharply reeled out of contrast a different voice then before. "Weiss the net dive has been set up." The last thing he could recall seeing was a pair of boots walking away as the world turned to black.

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**Tseng's P.O.V**

Tseng was worried, scratch that Tseng was worried, stressed and overworked. But he was always stressed or overworked had always been from the first day he'd stepped up as Veld stepped down. But this was different much different from the usual worries and stresses that assaulted him day and night. Reno was missing, and in all the time that he'd known the cynical red headed Turk he'd never ever been missing. Not like this, according to his sources Reno had never returned from his mission of searching the old Shinra's building. Two day's later he'd secretly ordered Rude to search over the place to come up with nothing but Reno's discarded Electro-mag Rod.

Even Rude had appeared to be rather disturbed over his partner's disappearance. Elena had shrugged if off and Rufus, he didn't even want to think about Rufus at the moment. The president had been acting rather odd lately and although that prompted worries of it's own the situation involving Reno had worsened. The Wutai man paced frowning as he glanced over the image's Reeve had sent him. Pictures that several of WRO members had taken before they had vanished. Citizens as well have been vanishing, small towns, leaving nothing but a few body's strewn around.

Then the attack, strange creatures employed by soldiers in blue… he sighed then collapsed into his chair messaging the side of his head in frustration. "Reno where are you?"

_To be continued…_

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I hope that turned out okay, at least I should start getting the hang of writing fic's better as I progress on this. It isn't much but I hope it's enough for the begining.


	2. Chapter 2 Getting involved

**Disclaimer:** I do not own game, animation or anything relating to Final Fantasy Seven including its characters, game plot chickens/twists and etc. Pairings: Eventual Sephiroth x Reno, mild Weiss x Reno and who knows what other pairings I'll throw in later. I'm open for suggestions.

**Thank you:** The following people are those I give my thanks and appreciation towards for the reasons listed with them.

- Elder sibling Kaij; for proof reading stories before they are submitted.

- Havox; for inspiring the story itself how awesome is that yo?

- CYCLE RECYCLE; from Gaia Online for being a Rufus expert, for this Rufus would not be possible without them.

- All of you, who have added this to their favorites, watched and commented! The story, thank you all for you have helped me decide in continuing this story.

The next chapter, I'm so very sorry it took so long but I wanted to make sure that this story turned out good. This actually would have been up sooner but well life happens just as shit does. As I told my reviewers I have moved to a location that has no internet access and as such updates might be slow. Especially since I have to go to my dad's to upload things and well the first day I moved in my grandmother was taken to the hospital. One thing after another but well I give up on trying to give fixed dates. Life's too hectic for such things but I can give a rough estimate. Keep in mind I do update my profile page if delays happen so if you've noticed I've been rather lax you might want to check there first before sending me a prompt. This chapter does contain SPOILERS pertaining the plot of Final Fantasy; Dirge of Cerberus. In fact quite a bit of this story might have spoilers so if you don't want things spoiled you should probably put off the story until you've played the game. Also thoughts are in italics like so _'Example thought'_

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__**Chapter One - The Beginning of the End**

**Reno P.O.V **

A vague half remembered shape draped in black leather, face covered by long strands of silver hair. The figure was kneeling over the prostate form of another body clothed in a Turks standard suit, a shock of black blue hair splayed over the cold stone below his feet. Slowly the face looked up from the bleeding body; a cruel smile freezing him to the spot sweat slipping down the curves of Reno's face. The eyes, empty all but void of life, reason, taking in everything missing nothing and crazed as a cornered rabid dog. The figure stood in slow motion eventually walking forward with a menacing air the bloodied sword trailing along in its grip, and abruptly Reno woke gasping from the pain that had jolted him to wakefulness. It was just a dream, it wasn't real. He shivered remaining half hunched over, feeling nausea threaten to overwhelm his senses. Just the stupid ass dream that he'd had since he found Tseng laying half dead in the Temple of Ancients back during the hunt of the rouge general Sephiroth. Of course it hadn't happened quite like it had in the dream but it had certainly given him nightmares for weeks. It must have been the silver haired git that had triggered some part of his subconscious, goddamn clones. Again he had to wonder just how many volunteers, Shinra had secretly experimented on using the Jenova cells, probably passed them out like candy before resorting to spiking the local caffeine supplies. But those were thoughts for another time; he had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

Like figuring up a plan to get out of this shithole and more urgently finding a way to stop his broken rips from puncturing a lung or organ. Grimacing with distaste and some pain Reno very carefully and very slowly straightened out his body out on the floor. Angering the silver haired captor had probably been one of the more unwise things he'd done, but then Reno didn't really fancy getting himself molested by some relative of Jenova's. _'What was his name, Weiss or something?'_ Bracing himself against the wall Reno slowly straightened the rest of the way suppressing his instinct to cringe back into the fetal position. About halfway up and the cell door swung open again; shit couldn't they wait till later for interrogation? The red head cautiously looked up half expecting a blow to the side of his face like last time. A small body stood in the door way clothed in blue, grey and white with a band of metal over the flat chest. Skin pale enough to show the faint outline of veins beneath the surface, short brown hair that almost touched the shoulders with bangs that curled around a feminine face, the glow of mako in orange eyes void of any emotion, Reno gaped as it hit him a little girl? They sent a little fucking girl to pick him up? Did they think he was some sort of invalid now that he'd had the shit kicked out of him? A flat monotone voice filled the small room. "Weiss is waiting, come this way." Oh so now they thought he;d follow along like some sort of meek puppy?! Reno frowned. "I ain't going anywhere yo and you- "He cut off his sentence as a blade materialized inches from his face glowing the same orange color as the mako tainting her eyes. Well shit, so the little girl was more then she seemed, should have known. Reno might be lacking a few wits from time to time but he wasn't stupid, there might yet be hope to turn the situation around. "You can tell your Weiss that I can't possibly walk since he broke my ribs on his last visit yo. " He felt a swell of pride at being able to keep the nervous edge out of his voice.

She glanced down appearing to just now realized the red head wouldn't have been able to even crawl if he had wanted to. "So it seems." The blade vanished and the girl child shifted her focus glancing behind a shoulder. "Azul.." _'Azul? What the- oh shit no!'_ Reno's eyes widened in much shock as a very tall very muscular man ducked through the door sideways since there was no possible fucking way he'd fit in with Reno himself and the girl. Darkly tanned skin, strong masculine features and long blue hair of all things with glowing tattoos wreathed around muscles that had to be built from bricks. Or some sort of super powered Shinra steroids. Reno was betting the latter, there just wasn't any possible way someone could be built like that."Yes Shelke? " "The prisoner appears unable to walk, and Weiss wants to see him. Make sure he is taken to the white room." "Of course." Good god he was smiling, survival instincts kicked into action making Reno involuntarily shrink back and tense hesitating on the verge of fight or flight. The brick man somehow fit in as the girl slid out and before Reno could even attempt to slide past the man he was grabbed and not the 'Nice try but I don't think so ' kind of grab but a 'Where the fuck do you think you're going little bitch' grab. Needless to say he was very glad for the sudden distraction of the world turning from grey to black as he lost conscious once again.

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**Weiss P.O.V**

Something was wrong, and not in some de'ja vu voodoo moment wrong. Weiss frowned down at the unconscious red headed Turk sprawled and strapped onto the steel table below. Lightly and almost nervously he reached out tracing fingers over the face of his captive. Vague laughter and jumbled mad thoughts streaked through his mind; shortly following it he couldn't shake the feeling that slimy tendrils of another's thoughts slowly crawled up and over his mind twisting to reach deeper into the subconscious. Moving slowly as if it was somehow memorizing the way his mind worked, as if it was slowly taking over portions of his mind before slithering deeper into his mind. The lead Tsviet shivered trying to pull his focus back to the present suppressing the filthy mental touches. It was a lie, paranoia, a fear that his mind had gripped and refused to drop. Nothing like that can happen, nowhere that Weiss knew of keep any document pertaining mind control or anything related to it. He was certain, he was sure; he just had to be imagining things. Maybe Nero was right he really should take a break and let the others find the cure for the virus running rampant through his body.

But they couldn't be trusted, only Nero and even then his brother could only do so much with his own special gifts constantly threatening to break free from its restraints to devour anything in its path. They had all feared Nero too much to teach him any control; none of the idiotic keepers would even know where to start. At least now Nero was free, finally free from the confinement of that pillar and room he had only teach himself how to control it. But that would take time, time Weiss did not have and could not afford to lose. They would pay for locking them away, they would all pay. Turquoise eyes flickered over the red headed one he couldn't help but smirk as he noticed the enraged alarmed expression stuck on the Turks face. "My my finally awake I see." So much fun these Turks were proving to be. This one in the very least, Weiss relished the chance to find how long it would take to break the red heads spirit.

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**Reno P.O.V**

"Uhhgh" Reno slowly blinked awake, squinting over the glare of bright florescent lights that hung over head. An involuntary pull of both arms informed his sluggish mind that he was bound tightly to a cool smooth surface. _'Where the hell?' _He tilted his head a little to the side looking around the space taking everything in with one short glance. The color scheme was familiar a white and dull grey spread over in a pattern he recalled seeing in the labs that filled part of Shinra's many floors. In fact, it was all very familiar; everything was in the same place. The same design, hell maybe if he squinted his eyes he could make out the Shinra Logo engraved over a cabinet door. His face visibly paled as thoughts slowly clicked together. A ShinRa lab? But then, well he had been crawling over the ruin of the building, how was this possible? Then again Shinra was spread just about worldwide. Still Reno visibly paled more, there had been an incident years ago when he was still a rookie within the Turk ranks. Uncover on a mission and some goon had managed to knock him cold out, the next he could recall was awaking in a situation similar. The only difference was that at that time Hojo had been leaning over the table with a cruel crazed expression. About to cut into him when Veld stormed in, Tseng at the time was still in training himself. Reno squirmed unconsciously, those few minutes had been enough to leave deep mental scars. Hojo was not pleased to lose such a Specimen and despite Veld's orders several attempts had been made to snatch him back. Lucky enough the bastard eventually forgot his existence and focused whole heatedly on the general. It came to no surprise the general snapped after his friends defecting. _'Shit hyperventilating. Calm down yo, no way some mad scientist is gonna pop outta nowhere and cut me open.'_

The Turk turned his head over stubbornly pushing away the knowledge that he was strapped down to a metal operating table. However the suppressed panic and rage quickly slipped loose as he finally spotted Weiss standing directly next to the table a distant expression in place, a tray of cutting implants sitting off to the side. If only the straps where a little looser, Reno's slight jerk of movement pulled the man's attention outward and down. "My my finally awake I see." Reno's expression darkened before he quickly removed all trace of emotion, recalling the damage he had earned earlier with his usual arrogant cocky temper. "Tsk I see I'll have to play with you to get those lovely reactions I adore." The silver haired one smirked cruelly and leaned down the glow of Weiss's eyes flickering with excitement. "What was it that drew such a reaction last time?" Weiss mused to himself as Reno remained stubbornly silent. There have been many other incidents that had turned worse than this, the Turk would endure and he would survive long enough to spit in the bastards face before putting a few bullets through his skull. "Oh yes that's right, something like this?" The mocking tone automatically made Reno's body freeze before a cold hand slid beneath his disheveled work shit. Reno kept his expression blank refusing to give in despite the faint alarmed anger that threatened to surface. Dammit he'd been through worse, growing up in the slums had left him with much more darker memories then he'd care to have. _'Just tune it out yo; tune all of it out except the skills needed to survive.'_ Fingers lightly crawled over his chest and Reno couldn't help but cringe lightly. The ribs were still broken after all and the lightest touch had sent a stabbing pain deep through the skin upon contact. "Opps I'd forgotten that I've already injured you haven't I? Sometimes I just forget my own strength." Weiss pressed down harder over the spot his fingers lingered. The Turk instantly gasped very nearly whimpering even as the hand pulled back.

A triumphant grin stretched over the lower half of Weiss's face then quickly vanished. The man's stray hand snapped up to his temples apply light pressure as eyes scrunched shut the other free hand curled around Reno's wrist and squeezed painfully. The Turk could only vaguely make out the expression of pained concentration and paranoia over the Weiss's face while the pain left white spots clouding his vision. _'ShitShitShitShit_' Weiss's eyes snapped open a different color then they'd been before, a dull brown marked with madness hand in hand with a deep intelligence. The second Reno had registered the change it was gone replaced with Weiss's usual lurid turquoise eye color tainted with his cruel nature. The death grip over his wrist loosened considerably then drew back. Reno heaved a sigh of relief, he had been afraid that his wrist would end up cracked or broken like his ribs had. The eyes, a trick of his mind surly eyes did not change like that. Perhaps a recollection of being in Hojo's hands the pain must have somehow triggered it. Hands tightly gripped the cheap leather belt around the Turks waist alerting Reno that he had momentarily blanked out and that Weiss was on the move again. His movements and gestures had turned more frantically violent faintly muttering undistinguished words under the breath as he pulled the belts loose. The Turks mind quickly supplied answers to fill the blanks on what was going on and before he could stop himself he began to struggle. "Fuck no! Go play with your friend's yo, I ain't interested." Weiss chuckled darkly not even bothering to glance up his skin covered with a faint sheen of sweat. "What are you going to do about it hmm?" He then glanced upwards his lips twisted into a dark smile as Weiss leaned up invading personal space. "Resist?" He laughed again the sound eerily echoed around the room "Go ahead I love it when you struggle, I love drawing a reaction, and I will enjoy breaking your spirit as much as I will enjoy breaking your body. Not all at once of course, we will need you to at least give the illusion of being in one piece after all.■"Weiss began to lightly pet the side of Reno's face again; the Turk himself could hardly suppress the panic.

Something was off; Reno had seen the eye colors flicker more than once during the last few sentences. So distracted he hardly felt the rough petting over his groin only jerked back from the sharp pain of being squeezed far too tightly to be pleasurable. Reno gasped cringing as much as the restraints allowed, the world swam around for quite a few minutes before righting itself. The movement had agitated the previous injuries done. Oddly enough as his vision cleared he noticed Weiss standing off further to the side his back to the Turk. The muscles of Weiss's back obviously tensed, Reno had missed the cause in between the harsh pain and impaired vision. Faintly a familiar crazed laugh echoed around the room, Reno's eyes jumped around seeking the source. That sound, he knew it. Unique as it was the laugh had haunted many a dream of his. It wasn't until seeking eyes found nothing that with faint horror Reno realized the laugh came from no other then Weiss. Slowly the mad man turned and looking back out from the man's face was none other than Hojo. A syringe held in the off left hand, glowing brightly the way untainted pure mako did. "Well hello my precious specimen. " The world once again thankfully faded to black.

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**Tseng's P.O.V**

From the frying pan into the fire, or so Tseng had heard Elena mumble to herself so many times before during missions gone wrong. The Wutai man had never thought he himself would ever apply those words to any current day dilemma. Although considering the number of times he'd experienced the light touch of deaths shroud the words should have been engraved on the foundation of his being. He had grown use to it; the words were useless to Tseng for everything that went well would always eventually turn sour in some way. Then instead of landing the final blow he expected, it would be another someone much closer to him that would be hadn't made him this anxious since he sent his subordinates out to find young Fair before Shinra's armies did. Tseng flinched at the memory and hastily stuffed it back into the corner of his mind ignoring the brief stab of emotions that followed it. Past was past, this time would have to be different Reno would be found alive. Reeve informed him only hours before that whole populaces of towns and villages have been vanishing, even WRO teams sent in to investigate vanished hours after reaching their destination. Tseng had a very strong suspicion that these events had something to do with Reno's earlier disappearance. He also suspected that the old remains of Shinra's building in Midgar just might be the headquarters or the center of the cause of the disappearances.

What other place could some wanna be villain be hiding after all? Quite often vermin had the thought of hiding in places they think others would least expect them to be or perhaps it was just some ironic twist of fate. Dark brown eyes anxiously swept down across the report Rude had handed him earlier. There was no chance some way ward monster had managed to get the best of the red-head. Everything swarming the area remained at levels that could only harm those not trained to properly defend themselves. Remains of buildings had been checked and re-checked and he although he hadn't yet set Rude to searching the Shinra building he knew they wouldn't find Reno pinned under any stray debris. It could be overconfidence but he just couldn't shake the conviction that something much worse took place.  
Not only that but if his suspicions about the place being some sort of headquarters proved to be true┘ his blood ran cold at the thought. He could only hope they would keep Reno alive for information or even a hostage. That also meant that there wasn't any way he could send Rude to check to area himself. That meant he'd have to find some way to distract Rufus while Rude and himself checked the place over. Luckily Rufus had taken to brooding in his office for hours on end, refusing to be bothered short of anything urgent. This meant he could station Elena over the Lodge and take off to help find where his second in command had gotten off to.

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_**Meanwhile at the Northern Crater **_

A pale hand stretched out from the ruin of rocks covering the opening of a cave covered with rock dust and sprinkled with light scrapes and cuts. Seconds later the hand drew back and the light sound of faint bickering voices filled the air before the rocks covering the entrance burst forward with a loud bang! Startling all nearby wildlife deep into cover as dust rose up in the air and coughing ensued. "You didn't need to hit the things so hard." "They wouldn't move any other way." "But now it'll take us longer for you to recover that energy. " "We needed to stay a few days anyways Sephiroth, we both need to recover from being deceased. " "You've always had a way with words Angeal." "You sarcasm isn't appreciated." A low grunt as the shorter of the two sat, leaning against the cave wall with evident relief. Short yet long wisps of black hair covering part of a masculine face, eyes closed for all but two seconds before he looked up at the sky. _'I hope they know what they were doing' _

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So yes review, comment, stalk. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter; I swear the next chapter is about half done. Things should go much smoother now that I've got just about everything worked out on the plot. I have some pretty twisted plot chickens waiting to be implemented in the story


	3. Chapter 3 The Waiting Game

**Disclaimer**: I do not own game, animation or anything relating to Final Fantasy Seven including its characters, game plot chickens/twists and etc.

**Pairings:** Eventual Sephiroth x Reno, mild Weiss x Reno and who knows what other pairings I'll throw in later. I'm open for suggestions. By the way if you squint hard you might see some hints of past one sided Tseng x Zack. Hint of Rude x Tifa later maybe.

I am so very, very sorry at how late this is. Got the biggest writer's block trying to work my way through this. Spent a lot of time writing one thing, going back, deleting it then writing some more. But yeah I think I've given up on posting the deadlines I made for myself here. I never seem to quite make them and it always makes me feel guilty. Have no fear though the updates will continue. I would never, never leave a story here unfinished. It just might take awhile for the updates to come in. But yes any way's hope you'll like this chapter I got stuck quite a few times as I said. So I apologize in advance if it comes out a bit jerky. Remember that this is the first fic I've ever written. Oh and I might re submit the story some time later in the future since I noticed I had quite a few errors here and there. It bugs me, so it's that or you might see that I've gone back to edit some things. The names of each chapter is completely random.

As usual thoughts are in italics like so… _'Example thought' _and sounds such as gunshots or falling will be in italics as well but like so [_Bang! Bang!]_ bars included. This fiction does contain spoilers pertaining Final Fantasy Seven Dirge of Cerberus and other Final Fantasy games, animations and etc leading up to this one.

**Chapter Two – The waiting game**

**Tseng P.O.V**

_Tick tock tick tock…_ 12:24pm

Tseng couldn't help but glance up once more at the small clock hanging from his wall pausing in mid sentence of the written report for a few seconds before he forced himself to refocus. Black brown eyes flickered back down to the page of paper lying on his desk, a slight frown pulled down the corners of his mouth. Somehow his usual neat handwriting had degraded into gibberish; even sadder was that he hadn't even noticed. The Turk sighed, crumbling up failed report number thirty four and threw it into the trash with its other brethren. Why did he even bother? In… he glanced up at the clock again, now twelve twenty five pm, in five minutes Rufus should be locking himself behind his office doors. It was only a matter of time be-

"Tseng."

Said man inwardly jumped, while outwardly he abruptly switched his gaze from clock to the familiar shape of the Shinra President before him.

"Sir."

Odd why would Rufus be down here, Rufus had become fairly particular about following his daily agenda. Rufus smiled, Tseng inwardly cringed. Rufus smiling was never a good thing, at least not anymore. It was one of the few definite changes that Tseng could pin down.

"Waiting for someone?"

"No sir, I was just checking the time."

Tseng placed the pen down, folding his hands before him, and letting his facial expression relax into an impassive blank as he projected the outward image of being calm and collected.

"Really? How odd, I thought I saw you glance up once or twice a few minutes back. As if waiting for someone… or something. I could be mistaken of course."

Another smile, Tseng froze for a few seconds feeling a chill. Rufus had been watching him and he hadn't even noticed? Not entirely impossible but definitely odd.

"Tseng?"

"Only checking the time sir as I said."

Not a lie but it was obvious he was avoiding the full question. It was best to distract the president before he latched onto getting a full answer out of Tseng.

"Did you need something from me sir?"

"Oh yes, I almost forgot."

Rufus reached over and dropped a small stack of papers on Tseng's desk.

"Replacements."

"What?"

Tseng glanced down at the stack, evidently confused for two seconds before glancing over the top page of the pile. Applicants, Turk applicants.

"I think it's time we replaced some of the team that we've lost and about time that you name someone else as your second."

Tseng's eyes widened momentarily, flickering back up to stare at Rufus in disbelief. He couldn't be serious; Reno had only been missing for seventy two hours. Primary sweeps over the surface of the ruined building revealed nothing but crumbling floors and walls. They had not yet been given the release from Rufus to search the ruins to see if the underground entrances were accessible. While Tseng had allowed himself to count the possibility of Rufus not allowing them to pursue he didn't expect the man to be so abrupt over replacing the red head so allowed himself to frown at Rufus displaying his displeasure at the thought.

"With all due respect si- "

"It's too soon isn't it?"

The president stood there staring at Tseng, his expression had hardly twitched as he spoke of replacing Reno. But now he looked almost torn. He half collapsed in the chair opposite of Tseng cradling his head between his hands, gripping his fair hair tightly between pale fingers. His body shook with what Tseng could only guess to be suppressed stress and fears. He felt a flush of guilt at his treacherous thoughts against Rufus earlier.

"I keep thinking that it's too soon, but what if it's too late? Reno always makes it back, or if he gets stuck he…he. "

Rufus looked up at Tseng his face twisted with emotions the Turk found hard to decipher. Then suddenly he felt as if he understood the predicament Rufus faced. If they found Reno alive, all the better, but if they found him dead or not at all? What would that do to him? Would it be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back? Rufus had learned at a young age to hide the way things affected him

"Understood sir."

Rufus hesitated, apparently attempting to wrap his emotions back under as his face resumed its calm arrogant expression before he nodded at left the room with quick steps. Tseng pushed back from his desk with a sigh as the door clicked shut behind the white suit. It wasn't the first time Tseng lied to Rufus and it certainly wouldn't be the last. But at least if they did find Reno dead or not at all the president would never have to know.

**Angeal P.O.V**

Angeal sighed, watching as his breath rose up into the sky in a white puff. It was cold, freezing actually; he could feel the snow covered ground crunched beneath his feet, the light wind brushing past his face, and the faint light of the cloud-covered sun only slightly warming the chilled flesh.

Alive, he was truly alive. It was no joke, no dream; he was alive again and without the curse of being a monster. They had removed the taint from his DNA and replaced it with their own. All done for the sake of the mission of course but he minded it not in the least bit.

"Slacking already are you?"

"Hardly, I've already finished. I believe that mean's you'd be the one slacking."

Angeal turned, careful with the axe he had been using to chop wood only moments earlier. Sephiroth stood only few feet away wearing a thick grey sweater, black pants and boots. His silver hair now a dark brown was pulled back in partial braid, the top half braided with few stray strands covering bits of his face. Mako green eyes had darkened to a black brown with normal rounded pupils, pale skin had darkened a shade or two and a disfiguring burn scar covered the left side of his face from the upper part of the cheek, part of the nose, lips, ear and down the neck. He had kept his original height and physique; all together, it would be a miracle if anyone managed to identify him as the great fearsome General.

It was another boon given to them for their mission, since it would have been impossible for them to get anywhere without it. Disguise materia is what his cheeky ex student had dubbed it. Despite that, they would still have to be cautious as it was only an illusion, and such things could be broken or seen through it they weren't careful. Angeal had one for himself although he did not yet know how it had changed him.

"Then you can help me bring the rest in."

"Hmph Slave driver, you'll have to wait. The axe should be put away first."

Angeal stepped past Sephiroth as the ex-general bent to gather the hacked wood with a smile, heading towards the shed of the small house they had found. It was more of a hut really, built with various materials such as wood, mud, rock, and even ice. They had stumbled upon it after their descent down the crater, and the old hermit that owned it insisted they stay for more than just the night. With no clear plan in mind and not a Gil on them, they accepted.

The mission, Angeal still wasn't all too sure about all this but he hadn't really paid much mind to the world after he passed. Not that it really mattered; his own mission was separate from the one given to Sephiroth. He was only here to keep an eye on Sephiroth. If he so much as twitched in the direction of destroying the planet Angeal was to eliminate him. He doubted it would happen now that the taint was removed from Sephiroth's being. His twisted mind had been mended as well as it was going to get after they gave him the chance to learn the truth of his biological parents. He had taken it of course and somehow what he had learned and seen was accepted as the truth of things. Oh no doubt it was a tangled mess throughout the whole process but it sure as hell was worth it. As things stood, Angeal was content. Sephiroth would figure out an answer to his mission and if he solved it a second chance to life awaited him.

**Reno P.O.V**

Fucking hell, Reno was really hoping that just this once that he could go back in time and kick his ass for thinking it was such a grand idea to sign up with Shinra. He would have been better off sticking to the streets! Well maybe not considering just how many times the thousands of civilians have been killed off just because they happened to be around at the time something thought a little destruction would do wonders for the environment.

He was lying face down on the concrete floor arms and legs slightly spread out. Probably how he landed after they tossed him in when the monster was done with him. Distracted hopefully because in all honesty Reno doubted the freak was done. At least they had the decency to throw him a few decent cure spells. Good god he had never been so happy to pass out in his life, he wasn't sure he wanted to recall any of the things that had transpired in that disgusting lab. Even if he wasn't all too sure why his veins felt like they were on fire. Heck compared to how he felt when he was first thrown in the fire was almost a walk in the fucking park. Like drinking a homemade fireball at Tifa's bar.

'_Well enough to manage an escape maybe? '_

Reno attempted to roll himself over onto his back but ended up on his side after the feeling of being boiled from the inside out increased. Fuck no he was stuck, Tseng and the others would just have to continue to worry or think he was dead. Though he did feel a little bad about that, Tseng had become more protective in a sense since that Zack kid got himself killed. It was too bad that he'd been so stuck on that Aerith girl, Reno snickered to himself just by imaging the two of them together. Oh gawd why was that mental image so funny?

"Ow, ow owww Shit."

Stupid crunched ribs spoiling his fun, never mind that he was creeping near hysteria. He was just now starting to register that his ribs had gotten broken again. _[Bang, bang, bang!]_ Gunshots?

'_Whaaat? '_

_[Thump] _Curious, Reno's head turned in the direction of the door, attempting to see out through the crack at the bottom. Nothing? He squinted in an attempt to see better wondering if he had indeed been hearing things. But then the door swung open with two figures crowding the entry, a smoking gun in the hand of one.

"Reno!"

A familiar voice, the rush of a blurry figure then nothing at all.

**Tseng P.O.V**

"I count only three at the door boss."

Tseng nodded the end of his hair brushing against his back; he had tied it up like he'd done in the past to keep it out of his face. Rude looking odd without his trademark sunglasses slipped back into position a standard pistol in hand as Tseng did. They had gotten in the same way Vincent had, even stuck together for a short way before breaking off into separate routes.

Later on Tseng and Rude had stopped for a short rest and had overheard that Weiss had a loudmouthed prisoner contained down in the lower levels that had yet to be killed. Hoping it was who they thought it was both of the Turks had headed down the only available set of stairs and continued along the hallway. Hours and several empty cells' later they had heard the faint muttering of annoyed voices and Rude was sent to scout ahead.

This had to be it, if Reno wasn't there… Tseng's hands tightened on his gun his usual stoic expression almost broke. If he wasn't then they would get to that when they confirmed it as a fact. He turned so that he was half facing Rude from across the hall and gave him the go. Quick as they could both go they rushed out from the two dark niches. _[Bang, bang, bang!] _Tseng got three shot's two of them going down with expressions of surprise. The third more quick then the other two rushed Rude and ended up meeting the wall with a loud thud its neck broken in the process.

They swarmed forward Rude putting away his gun while pulling out a card from the pocket of the one he'd thrown. Without a word the card was swiped through the reader on the side and with a click the door unlocked. Both men paused looking at one another in an unspoken agreement. If Reno wasn't here they would have to return, empty handed. Taking a breath Tseng pushed the door slowly open, a battered body on the floor stared at the two before its eyes fluttered shut.

"Reno!"

Rude brushed ahead of Tseng concern straining the name of his red-headed partner. Reno? That was Reno? But what the hell happened to him? From the dim light they could see several dark bruise's over Reno's face, around his neck and more. At one point a thin trickle of blood had trickled from the corner of his mouth and dried there. One could see patches of unnaturally pale skin underneath the patchwork of bruise's and grime. He was hardly recognizable from his usual vibrant self, true Turks constantly got battered in the line of duty but it was a rare thing to find a living Turk that managed to go through so much damage.

The red head had even looked up at them with a confused expression before passing out, his eyes unusually bright in the darkened corner. Could it be mako poisoning? Vincent had mentioned something about pure mako being used by the enemy. They had better move fast if it was, Tseng holstered his gun and moved until he could kneel in front of Reno. He reached out to check the extent of Reno's wounds but very quickly drew his hand back sharply with a low hiss. The heat radiating from the red heads skin was un natural, if Tseng had to guess Reno's body was heating up to the point of boiling his insides. Yet somehow he still drew in breath and somehow his organs continued to function. Rude carefully placed his hands over Reno's torso, gently pressing along the bones to assess what damages he could.

"Broken ribs I think, that's the only serious wound I can feel along his torso. Although with the bruising it's possible he has some internal bleeding. I don't think any of limbs are broken either."

The earlier atmosphere of relief evaporated turning to anxiety as Reno's ragged breathing became more evident. Even with the potions they had brought just in case, it was going to be a challenge to get Reno out alive. Thinking of potions, Tseng reached back into his pocket pulling out the three hi-potions he had on hand, uncorking one and looking over at Rude. The bones would still have to be set straight in order to heal right. Rude grimly probed the ribs again before he started to cautiously manipulate them back into place. It was a good thing Reno had passed out when he did.

"Now."

Tseng nodded tilting Reno's head up with one hand, pried open his mouth and carefully fed Reno the potion. Making sure he would swallow the contents and not inhale them. It took another twenty minutes to make sure Reno had gotten the last drop of all three and hopefully the potions had healed an possible internal wounds enough that they wouldn't re-open as they carried him out.

"The ribs?"

"They have knitted together some but the slightest force could make them break again."

Shit they should have brought more, but honestly Tseng hadn't expected for Reno to end up this badly off. Cure materia was out of the question since it was highly likely that he was mako poisoned and there was no knowing how it would react to the materia's use. There was nothing more they could do here. Tseng scooted back getting to his feet and pulling his gun out again in case they got any visitors.

"I'll have you carry him as I'm sure you've had experience moving Reno. "

He was referring of course to the times that Reno had become drunk enough to pass out at a bar. Rude nodded taking his own pistol out and handing it over to Tseng than carefully maneuvered Reno in his arms bridal style as any other way would make the wounds worsen.

"Let's go."

* * *

Shoot me.


End file.
